The Dolomites in four days

💡The three most famous places can no longer be visited without booking

Tre Cime requires an online reservation for every car and the toll is €40. Lago di Braies requires a booking from 1 July to 15 September to drive in between 9am and 4pm, with a combined ticket at €44. And on the Alpe di Siusi the access road is closed to cars from 9am to 5pm. Check the current year's rules before you go: they change every season.

💡Every village has three names, and your sat-nav knows one

Ortisei is also Urtijëi and St. Ulrich; Bolzano is Bozen. Italian, German and Ladin coexist here and the signs carry all three. If the sat-nav cannot find a place, try the other name. This is not folklore: South Tyrol was Austrian until 1918 and German is still an official language, so in many villages you will be served in German before Italian.

💡From November to May half the passes are shut

The Giau, the Sella, the Pordoi and almost all the high passes close with snow and do not reopen until late May or June, depending on the year. That does not mean you cannot come in winter: it means the valleys stop being connected over the top and you have to go round, which can turn forty kilometres into two hours. Check pass status before planning routes.